Longtime Sabres Voice Rick Jeanneret Retiring At End Of New Three-Year Deal

The Sabres today announced that play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret will retire following the ’15-16 season after he signed a new three-year contract with the team. Jeanneret will call an increasingly reduced number of games over the course of the contract before retiring. The ’13-14 season will be his 42nd with the Sabres. Maple Leafs broadcaster Dan Dunleavy has been added to the Sabres’ broadcast team and will substitute for Jeanneret before taking over primary play-by-play duties for the ’16-17 season (Sabres). Jeanneret said that he “expected to work 57 games this season, 47 games next season and half the games in his final season.” In Buffalo, Alan Pergament notes the Sabres “planned for this year to be his final season until the team persuaded him to continue.” Jeanneret, the “longest-tenured play-by-play man in the NHL,” will remain with the team “in an honorary capacity after he retires.” Meanwhile, the Sabres today also announced Rob Ray “will return as the color analyst on all games worked by Jeanneret and Dunleavy.” Brian Duff will return as pregame, postgame and intermission host (BUFFALONEWS.com, 8/8). Also in Buffalo, Mike Harrington notes Dunleavy “did one game in place of Jeanneret on a January 2010 road trip in Anaheim and earned good reviews.” Dunleavy will “serve as on-air talent for Sabres pre- and post-game broadcasts and will have a substantial presence on Sabres.com” (BUFFALONEWS.com, 8/8).